I wrote to Steven Leof <sleof.sln25@london.edu>:
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There is very little difference between clear or patent. The difference is
so marginal that either can be used in place of the other. In fact, in some
circles either term is used to mean the same product. Sifting whole wheat
flour made from winter wheat a few times will give you patent flour. Trust
me, it works just fine for rye breads.
Sifting lowers the ash content of the flour as you are removing the part of
the flour that contributes to its mineral content. (Ash is simply a
measurement of flour's mineral composition--which is mostly bran and germ).
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Steven Leof wrote back:
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Thanks for your note Roxanne. But clear and patent flour have different
specs. Clear flour usually has an ash content of approximately 0.75
percent whereas patent flour is extra white, low-ash flour. Surely the
sifting you refer to would result in flour approximating clear flour rather
than patent flour which would require much more effort.
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I wrote to Steven:
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Doing some research I found out that sifting whole wheat flour might be
your best alternative for clear flour. There is no European equivalant for
clear, which is a US wheat product. However, I would go out and find a
Jewish bakery in your area and ask what they use in their rye breads. And
you might be able to buy it from them. My guess is that they blend 2 or 3
different flours together to get the lift and texture they need.
Also, there's 3 different grades of clear flour that I could find at
http://www.theartisan.net/flour_descriptions_and_definitions.htm and the
sifting whole wheat flour technique closely resembles what's called first
clear flour (fancy clear is the "purest form").
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Steven wrote back:
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As far as I can tell Jewish Bakeries in London don't use clear flour,
indeed the few I've approached don't know what it is. I wasn't altogether
surprised at this as the rye breads available here pale in comparison to
those made in New York and other places in America. Hence my search for the
spec for first clear which I've taken to a couple of mills; sifting flour
seems too much like hard work....
BTW is clear flour used for anything other than NY style rye?
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I wrote:
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As far as I know it's not used for anything else. In all the bakeries I've
worked in, it's only been used for rye or other grain breads. But if we ran
out of it (which happened occasionally), we would use high gluten flour
with vital wheat gluten added. I never noticed a difference in the rise or
texture of the breads. So that might be an option to try.
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Roxanne